Daniel Lawes, a first-year International Relations and History student at LSE has won the Princess Diana Legacy Award in recognition of his social action and charity work.
Lawes received the award for his work founding and leading the non-profit organisation YouthPolitics UK, which according to the organisation’s website is, “dedicated to engaging young people into the political process and providing them with a platform to express their views.”
Lawes told LSE Media Relations, “[YouthPolitics UK] now has over 60 volunteers, has trained over 14,000 young people from low income neighbourhoods across the country and has bridged the gap between young people and decision makers, with figures such as Theresa May, Lord Heseltine, Alastair Campbell all getting involved or planning to get involved with our work.”
The award was also in recognition of Lawes’ work with youth mental health, leading the #OnMyMind campaign which aims to lobby the Department of Health for additional funding for youth mental health services.
Lawes was presented the award by Princess Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, at the Royal Naval College, to then spend four days in intensive leadership training with 19 other young leaders from across the world.
The training included a reception with Prince William at Kensington Palace. On the reception, Lawes told LSE Media Relations, “I took the opportunity to discuss with him some of the greatest issues facing our generation, from the impact of Brexit to constructive solutions to climate change.”
He added, “I also had the privilege of meeting some of the most inspiring people such as the Executive Director of UN Women, Executives from HSBC and British Airways, and members of the House of Lords (meeting Baroness Lawrence was a particular highlight). The most inspirational element of the experience, however, was meeting the other award recipients from across the world who had some incredible stories.”
If you would like to get involved with YouthPolitics UK, you can contact Daniel on D.lawes@lse.ac.uk.
